In response to Elvia Límon's article, I believe SMU student Claire Krizman is missing the point.

In her words, "I felt like my school was allowing shame to be promoted," and "I wanted to make anyone who felt offended to know someone is siding with them," but then retaliating to start a countergroup that supports the abortion industry excludes the most critical needs of women: compassion and education.

An estimated 65 percent of women seeking abortion feel coerced by someone else to choose abortion. As an SMU alumna now on staff with Human Coalition, a Dallas-based nonprofit, I see firsthand what thousands of abortion-seeking women experience every year.

What we've found is that when offered tangible care, compassion and education, women are empowered to choose life. Why? Because often, for the very first time, someone is in their corner, standing in the gap with them. We've seen it happen over 6,000 times, and when it does, women and children are spared.

Why don't Krizman's efforts go to organizations designed to actually give women options instead of pushing the politicized agenda of the abortion biz? That would be a cause worth championing.

Meg McCrory, Plano

Using story after Easter wrong

I find it sad that The Dallas Morning News finds it necessary to publish one student's mission in support of Planned Parenthood the day after Easter, rather than an article about the thousands of crosses representing aborted children that have been placed on Easter by many students.

Why publish this article the day after virtually the holiest day of the Christian faith?

I was a public school science teacher for 35 years, and I'm writing in support of the revisions the Texas State Board of Education is considering. I encourage the board to retain changes to biology standards 4A and 6A that strengthen students' ability to evaluate scientific information.

Evaluating scientific data can be done in a way that fits the available time (one class period could be sufficient for the last clause of 4A or the last clause of 6A); moreover, this is a skill that most teachers can expertly execute. Students don't have to be scientists to practice critical inquiry and evaluate explanations.

It was in those classes where my students asked questions, weighed evidence and analyzed competing ideas when they learned and were engaged most fully. Without evaluating an explanation's strengths and weaknesses, students won't get experience practicing the real methods of science. They may also be misled into thinking that all scientists agree on the origins of biological complexity and DNA, when they don't.

Kenneth N. Bishop, Garland

Make the Sandy Hook promise

We have had far too many moments of silence since Sandy Hook. Our children and community deserve real action to stop the epidemic of gun violence in our country. We're not alone and we're not helpless. There are many seemingly simple, yet powerful things we can do.

So many of our neighbors are uniting to bring the change we need. The phones in Congress are ringing off the hook requesting gun reform, the number of peaceful rallies is increasing in cities across the country, and families and friends are gathering together everywhere to talk about bringing violence prevention programs to their schools.

There is reason to have hope that we can prevent gun violence before it happens through sensible gun safety laws and programs in our schools and communities that help us identify the signs and signals before a shooting happens and intervene.

Let's keep this hope alive and bring the needed change. Call your member of Congress today and ask that he or she support gun violence prevention legislation to keep guns out of dangerous hands.

Next, make the promise at sandyhook promise.org and help bring Sandy Hook Promise's free violence-prevention programs to our schools and communities.

I am a product of Dallas ISD schools. I also taught there for 12 years. Cutting librarians is so typical of this district.

This is one of the reasons they have a bad reputation. Bad leadership. Bad decisions by board members, who themselves have never taught.

I would watch maintenance people come in and sleep on the job. I would see 10 men watching one person dig a hole. When going to the district office, I would interact with people who had no clue what was going on.

DISD should do some cleanup within its administration offices and leave the teachers/librarians alone to do the job they know how to do.

Audrey Pincu, Far North Dallas

Did schools lose coaches too?

I was shocked (but not really surprised) to read that some Dallas ISD schools may no longer have the services of a librarian. I am curious to know how many DISD schools have dispensed with the services of athletic coaches.

Louise Delano, Richardson

Stop Plano's downward spiral

Re: "Which is the real Plano?," by Debbie O'Reilly, Saturday Letters.

O'Reilly needs to update her information. It was six years ago (2011) that Forbes magazine named Plano the "Safest City in America." What has happened since then?

And according to Money magazine's website, Plano has fallen to third as far as best places to live in 2016.

And I wonder if O'Reilly has ever attended a City Council meeting, which I feel the mayor runs like a dictatorship. It doesn't matter how many citizens want to address a topic, if he doesn't want to talk about it, it doesn't get discussed.

Why doesn't Mayor Harry LaRosiliere want to let the people vote on his Plano Tomorrow Plan? That is suspicious to me.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to be living in Plano, but I have met the mayor and most of those running, both incumbents and those newcomers seeking to unseat them. I have attended meetings on both sides.

Lily Bao, Rick Smith, Ed Acklin and Anthony Ricciardelli are not "politicians." They are educated professionals who have Plano's best interests in mind. Educate yourself.